Newcastle Jets put five past hopeless Western Sydney Wanderers

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:25 am

Western Sydney's A-League season of woe slumped to a new low after being embarrassed 5-1 on home soil by a ruthless Newcastle.

Jets striker Roy O'Donovan claimed a brace, while Dimi Petratos, Jason Hoffman and Matthew Ridenton also made it onto the scoresheet on Friday night inside the opening hour. Mitchell Duke pulled one back 19 seconds into his Wanderers debut, but that was all the home fans could cheer for in a yet another sorry display.

The five goals are the most the Wanderers have conceded this season, and stretches their winless run to seven games. They are one home loss away from equalling the longest winless run on their own turf in A-League history.

It might have been summer, but the wet conditions and lopsided scoreline made it feel like winter for the meagre 7,594 fans at ANZ Stadium. Compounding the defeat was the aggravation of a groin injury to Socceroos representative Josh Risdon, who limped from the field in the second half.

The signs were ominous from the Jets' 18th-minute opener, when a Brendan Hamill turnover resulted in Petratos curling one into the top corner. From there, it was all one-way traffic, with Hoffman making the most of a Daniel Georgevski shot that ricocheted right back to his teammate's feet.

Newcastle Jets were merciless in their defeat of Western Sydney Wanderers.
Getty

Wanderers youngster Marc Tokich was unlucky to have given away a penalty just before halftime, when he was ruled to have brought down Ronald Vargas. O'Donovan's initial shot was saved by Vedran Janjetovic, but again the ball bounced straight back to the Irishman to bury in the net.

Ridenton continued the humiliation not long after the break when he poked into an empty net after Janjetovic failed to parry a Petratos outswinging cross. And while he was unfortunate to hand O'Donovan his first goal, Tokich only had himself to blame for the second when he stuck out a leg on Hoffman. O'Donovan made no mistake with his second chance from the spot.

Duke made a strong first impression on his new fans when he headed from an acute angle moments after coming onto the field. But that was all the Wanderers' faithful had to smile about, with the four-goal margin equalling their heaviest defeat of the season.

For the seventh-placed Jets, the three points lifts them to within nine of sixth-placed Wellington with 10 games remaining.